"Oh! I beg you to! You see, she's quite capable of not letting me in, and making me spend the night in the street! That miserable Beauvisage! he's the cause of it all! I'd rather jump into the river than be his wife!" "Can you say as much about Finemouche?" "Yes, monsieur; I want a husband to my taste, and I don't like any of those jokers." "Then you have no lover?" "No, monsieur." "But, at your age, one ought to love." "Oh! I'm in no hurry. But we're almost there, monsieur, we're almost there. Ah! how my heart thumps!" I felt that she was really trembling, and, to encourage her, I took one of her hands and pressed it. She made no resistance, she was thinking of nothing but her mother. At last we reached Rue Sainte-Marguerite; Nicette dared not go any farther. "There's the place, monsieur," she said; "that house next to the porte cochère." "Well, let us go there." "Oh! wait just a minute, till I can breathe!" "Why are you so frightened? Am I not here?" "Pardine! perhaps mother won't even let you in!" "We will make her listen to reason." "That will be hard." "Your sister is more to blame than you." "Yes, but she's fond of my sister, and she don't like me." "Well, we haven't come all this distance not to try our luck." "That is true, monsieur. Come on, let's go to the house." We arrived in front of Madame Jérôme's shop; I had learned from Nicette that that was her mother's name. Everything was tightly closed and perfectly still; no light could be seen inside the house. "Does your mother sleep in the shop?" "Yes, monsieur; at the back." "We must knock." "Oh! if only my sister hasn't got home!" "Let's knock, in any event." I knocked, for Nicette had not the requisite courage; there was no reply. "She sleeps very soundly," I said to the girl. "Oh, no, monsieur! that means that she don't intend to let me in." "Parbleu! she'll have to answer." I knocked again; we heard a movement inside, then someone approached the door, and a hoarse voice demanded: "Who's that knocking at this time of night?" "It's me, mother." "Ah! it's you, is it, you shameless hussy! and you think I'll let you in after midnight, when you've been setting men to fighting and turning a whole quarter upside down! Off with you this minute, and don't ever let me see you again!" "Mother! please let me in; my sister has deceived you." "No, no; I know the whole story. You're a cursed little pig-headed fool! Ah! you don't choose to be a pork man's wife, don't you? All right! go and walk the streets; we'll see if you have pig's pudding to eat every day!" Nicette wept. I thought that it was time for me to intervene in the quarrel. "Madame," I called through the door, in a voice which I tried to make imposing, "your daughter has done no wrong; you are scolding her most unjustly; and if you leave her in the street, you will expose her to the risk of doing what you will regret."